NEW YORK — The University of South Carolina marching band got a chance to represent their school and state by playing in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The band was one of several from across the country invited to the 98th edition of the annual holiday tradition that took place Thursday morning in New York City.
The "Mighty Sound of the Southeast" (as they're known) marched most of the roughly 2.5 mile parade route before making a quick performance at the parade's main stage in front of the flagship Macy's store on 34th Street in Manhattan. The band played an up tempo version of the Christmas carol "Greensleeves" before transitioning to the Gamecock fight song as they marched away from the plaza.
The event capped off a busy week in the Big Apple for the team that began when they left for New York early last Sunday morning. They then had to get up early each day to either tour the city, go to practice, or make appearances on national TV. But the work isn't done: they now must turn right around and be ready to perform for the USC-Clemson football game set for noon on Saturday.
The band had been picked to perform in the iconic parade last year, and started a project to raise money to send the full band to New York. During that time, almost 1,500 fans, alumni, families, businesses, organizations, students, and campus and community partners had donated. The money was used to transport, house, and feed the 400 band members, faculty, and support staff that traveled there. USC Basketball Coach Dawn Staley, Football Coach Shane Beamer, and music superstar Darius Rucker also donated $25,000 a piece to the effort.
This was the first time in the Carolina Band’s history that it had been invited to participate in the parade that began in 1924.
